Dec. 14 – A New Era In Quilting

This post is so-titled because…

DH decided I needed a longarm machine!  Have you heard the story?  Here it is…

I had casually mentioned wanting a longarm to my husband, but did not say much about it because I felt that was not going to happen.  At this point I have to say, “Thank You, Lord, for TRACTORS!”  You see, my husband decided he needed a tractor, so I told him, “Honey, get the biggest and best tractor you think you need.  Don’t scrimp.  Get one stout enough to do what you want and get all the attachments you need to go with it.”  So he did.

About 3 months after the tractor came to live with us my husband asked me, “Don’t you think you need a longarm quilting machine?”  My reply:  “Well, if YOU think I need one I MUST!”  Then he added, “Now don’t scrimp on the machine… get the best machine with all the  bells and whistles you think you need.”  (Ladies, it PAYS to be supportive of your DH!)  So in July of 2004  “Gussie Fay”, my Gammill Classic Plus, came to live with us.  Right away we loved one another and she made my quilting life so much faster and easier.

All previous quilts were quilted by hand or domestic sewing machine because they were BLA (before longarm).  All of the rest of the quilts for my Advent Quilt Show have been quilted on the longarm (ALA – after longarm).

FLORAL SLANTED BARGELLO - 2004

 

This pattern was from the Simply Quilts TV show.  I downloaded it, checked for mistakes (yes, there was a BIG one in the measurements), made a test quilt, then taught a class in this to the CCQ group.  (The test quilt was all blue fabrics from my stash, and was given away a couple of years ago.)

See that floral border fabric?  When I saw it I KNEW I wanted to make a bargello featuring it.  The issue is:  how do you get from yellow to pink to green?  It is very hard to find commercial fabrics to do that.  What to do?  Paint your own! 

I painted 2 fabrics and changed the background color on another using fabric paints.  (Which ones?  Starting on the top yellow piece, count down.  Pieces 3, 4, and 6.  #3 and 6 were painted from scratch (and they look like commercial batiks), and piece #4 used to have a white background.)

 

I wanted the quilting to look like Spanish moss hanging from tree branches.

Lesson learned:  ART QUILTS CAN BE FUN!  And it is almost instant gratification because it does not take the time commitment of a large quilt.  So I challenge you:  STEP OUT OF YOUR BOX!  You may discover something you love to do… I did!

TOMORROW’S TEASER:  Another quilt signed by a famous quilter!  (If you check the  Dec. 11th post you will find a clue.)  It involves a new technique that was lots of fun, and I made a bunch of them.

See you tomorrow;  BE BLESSED!